DOVER — The man charged in connection with a six-hour armed standoff Wednesday night — a long-term substitute teacher at Dover High School — is currently incarcerated on $50,000 cash bail. Brian P. Karl, 33, of 32 Isaac Lucas Circle, has been charged with one count of misdemeanor stalking and one count of felony reckless conduct after months of showing up at his ex-girlfriend's New Meadows apartment complex off Route 155 uninvited.

Following Wednesday night's incident Karl has been terminated from his position at DHS and is barred from going onto school property.

On Oct. 19, 2012, Dover police officer Robert Russell met with Karl's ex-girlfriend, who told police she had ended her three-month relationship with Karl. She said Karl continued to return to her apartment, though. Russell met with Karl to tell him that his ex-girlfriend wanted to end the relationship and that he should no longer go to her apartment or attempt to make contact with her. Russell told Karl that if he did, he would be arrested for criminal trespassing or stalking.

A little more than a week later, the Police Department investigated another incident involving Karl. His ex-girlfriend called police to notify them that Karl was sitting on the interior steps in her apartment complex demanding that she talk to him. She refused and Karl gave her a letter that noted threats of suicide. When the police found Karl later, Officer Petros Lazo saw Karl's forearm was bleeding. The affidavit says Karl admitted to having “suicidal ideations” and had cut his arm about 20 times.

Karl was arrested and transported to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

On Wednesday morning, May 1, Karl parked in a lot near his ex-girlfriend's house and placed a rose on her vehicle. His ex-girlfriend told him to leave her alone as she left for work.

When she returned later that evening, she was approached by Karl again.

She called the police, who responded to building #7 Lilac Lane at approximately 5:46 p.m. Wednesday night for a report of a suicidal subject. The woman reported Karl was in the hallway of the building and was suicidal.

The affidavit claims Karl followed her up to her second-floor apartment, attempting to give her more flowers. When she shut her door, Karl brandished a pistol and threatened to kill himself. The ex-girlfriend's 15-year-old son was home at the time.

Dover police officer Scott Petrin was the first to arrive on scene, finding Karl outside his ex-girlfriend's apartment holding a pistol to his head. Petrin ordered Karl to drop the firearm, but Karl refused. Karl repeatedly stated he would shoot himself with his loaded pistol.

The Strafford County Regional Tactical Operations Unit was called in to assist. The tactical unit evacuated the remaining residents of the second story, including the ex-girlfriend and her son, by ladder as Karl's position in the second floor hallway made evacuation through the interior of the building impossible.

A temporary shelter was set for displaced tenants, police said.

Negotiators assigned to the tactical team were able to convince Karl to surrender at approximately 11:30 p.m. and residents at that time were able to enter their apartments again.

There were no injuries, shots fired or force used by either the police or the suspect, who Police Capt. Bill Breault said “obviously put a lot of people's lives in danger.”

The charge of stalking, a Class A misdemeanor, is a result of what police say were Karl's actions leading up to the incident in which purposely engaged in a course of conduct that placed the female resident in fear. The charge of reckless conduct is a felony because police claim Karl, while armed with a handgun, engaged in conduct that placed others in danger of serious bodily injury.

In addition to the Strafford County Regional Tactical Operations Unit, (which is made up of officers from Dover, Rochester, UNH, Durham, Somersworth, Farmington and Milton), Dover police were assisted by New Hampshire State Police and the Dover Fire Department.

Karl is being held at the Strafford County House of Corrections.

Conditions of his release, should he make bail, include having no contact with the woman or her immediate family and he is prohibited from driving within 100 feet of Wentworth Gardens and New Meadows buildings in Dover.

Karl is also prohibited from using alcohol, narcotic drugs and controlled substances as well as possessing firearms, destructive devices, dangerous weapons or ammunition.

Dover High School Principal Christine Boston said Karl had been filling a temporary vacancy for a special-education teacher position for about a month up until the standoff. He had substituted less than a handful of times before.

Superintendent of Schools Jean Briggs Badger said Karl is no longer employed by the school and is not to step on to the school's property.

Boston said letters were sent home with students who had Karl as a teacher to notify parents of Wednesday night's incident and Karl's sudden leave from his position.